Saturday, December 30, 2017

Holiday Flash Fiction Contest Round 4 (final round)

Round Four

Posted: 12/30 (noon)

Opens 12/31/17 9am 1/2/18 9:31am

Closes: 1/1/18 9am 1/3/18 9:31am

prompt word: SENT

Number of words: 20

You can enter Round 4 even if you did not enter Rounds 1, 2 or 3.

You may continue the story you wrote for Rounds 1, 2 or 3 OR use someone else's post from Rounds 1, 2 or 3 as your "starter"
If you use a starter, you MUST include it in your post WITH ATTRIBUTION.
It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that you use someone else's work with respect.

You can NOT use 29 words in this entry if your previous entry was "only 26 of the allowed 30" In other words, no carry overs.

1. You must use the whole prompt word (sent) but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in
consecutive order. They cannot be backwards.
Thus: sent/sentence is ok, but sent/scent is not.

2. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.

3. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over) erase your
entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then post.

4. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary for international addresses.

5. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a title)

6 If you use a STARTER post, those words DO NOT count for word limit for today's entry.

7. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about your
particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.

8. There are no circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from
ME on your contest entry. NONE. (You can however discuss your entry
with the commenters in the comment trail...just leave me out of it.)

9. It's ok to tweet about the contest generally.
Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on Janet's blog and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"

11. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on the blog for
the life of the blog. In other words, you can't later ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date.

12. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not include links or
footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will not be
considered part of the story.

We fell in lust on the subway. Sweethearts turned to soulmates in swift fashion. Lovebirds, we were deemed. Little did I know, instead you'd be the albatross around my neck.

"It was an accident," you begged forgiveness, tightening the string like a noose. Apologies don't raise the dead, dear, and mothers can't nurture memorials.

"Love you" has become this protocol lyric sung between us, issued for our therapist's sake. But medicine doesn't cure bitterness, and...I miss my boy.*****Life happens without consent. So, I'm off to meet the train and our son again, this time falling with intent.

It had to be her. This had my sister's fingerprints all over it. Only Christina could flip you the bird and blow you a kiss all in the same gesture.*****Tonight was my first time hosting our family's annual Christmas gatheRING and every pan in my cabinet was coated with a layer of purple glitter.*****Purple. Christina's favorite color. Lest, I colly her name unjustly, I searched the craft drawer above for the culprit glitter packet. Red, gold, no purple.*****Halfway between laughing and crying, I looked up. "You couldn't have just sent a damn cardinal like a normal ghost?"

Swans? Now? With a foot of ice on the lakes? Way too many birds in this stupid song. Wait – got it. Seven Swanson dinners swimming in gravy. Next…***** Grumman Goose – the quintessential sea plane. National Guard has six of the belly-landers lying, not laying, in the snow. Close enough. Which brings us to…***** Performers, livestock, poultry – check. Pepto for the milkmaid with collywobbles. David Cassidy’s album, dangling from twin birches. Five rings, one diamond. Here goes nothing.***** Good, she sent a text. Plane landed. Heading home. Kidding about that bet, you know. Just ask me. Love, Noelle

They eat lots of birds, most often chickens. Turkeys on special days, like the one they call Christmas. Before cooking, they stuff the cavity with more food.***************Rings feature predominantly, often signifying the coupling of two humans in a committed relationship. Most are made of gold or silver, adorned with valuable jewels.***************Females of the species, approximately once every 25-28 days, menstruate. It is the key to procreation, but unpleasant, back aches, headaches and collywobbles are suffered.***************Study complete. Purring simultaneously in the host bodies, humans are in a global trance ready to be sent to Robonia.

"See those birds, circling? I'm going to take care of that, first off. Got it?"I nod, uncertain."Then we'll deal with the house."*****

*****I scrub colly off the floor. "I'm done," I call but the house rests and when I tip the bucket the water's brown, not black.*****I make sure the ambulance is sent too late. The birds watch me leave, the only witnesses.

He bird-dogged her heart with a letter promising gifts, travel, mystery. He’d reversed his tradition— hadn’t made her ask for what she wanted. Then he signed his name—Santa.**She almost succumbed, but then he spoke of bringing her north. That tipped her off: he could read minds, but she didn’t like the cold.**Antenna up, she checked his trademark coat for authenticity. Red and fur-trimmed, but no colly. Hard to believe he’d worked a day in his life. **Finally, the confrontation:“Are you real?”“You decide.”“But... I’m Jewish.”“Heaven-sent! Your answer?” “Mrs. Claus it is.”

I concede, as I’m so toasted my vision’s blurry. Doesn’t really matter, as long as there’s enough to get me to midnight.*****The ringing of a clock and the lusty cry of a newborn tell me it’s time to make my exit.

With one phone call, the young lovebird's greatest fear switched from losing herself to losing her wife.*Pre-diagnosis, Ell hated the thought of growing old: arthritis, handicap stickers, watching the children leave home.Now it sounded heaven-sent.

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I'm a literary agent in NYC. I specialize in crime fiction and narrative non-fiction (history and biography.) I'll be glad to receive a query letter from you; guidelines to help you decide if I'm looking for what you write are below.
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